1. Field of the Invention
That application related to residential and commercial electrical wiring systems and receptacles; and, more particularly, to an improved electrical junction box for electrically connecting an electrical receptacle to an electrical wiring system. The present invention relates to residential and commercial electrical wiring systems; and, more particularly, to an improved electricrification system and method for electrically wiring a building or similar structure.
2. Description of Related Art
State and federal building codes require that when a building is wired to provide electrical power therein, the wiring must be installed between the exterior and interior wall surfaces, beneath the floors, above the ceilings, between the surfaces of interior walls, or within some other rigid enclosure. The electrical wiring is installed after the framing of the building is completed but before the walls are erected on either side of the frame. Where ever electrical outlets, ceiling fixtures, wall switches, or the like are desired within the building, an electrical junction box, usually made of plastic or similar non-conductive material, is mounted on a frame member and then connected to the wiring. When wall surfaces, such as drywall or plaster, are later installed, access to the junction boxes is achieved through appropriate openings cut into the wall surface.
Thus, standard residential and commercial electrical systems comprise a plurality of electrical junction boxes, each of which provides electrical conduit for connecting the wires of electrical receptacles, such as an electrical outlets, switches, or fixtures, to the electrical wiring of the building. While conventional electrical systems and junction boxes function adequately and relatively safely, they admit a variety of interrelated limitations. Conventional electrical wiring requires a junction box to connect a building""s electrical wires to a particular electrical receptacle by terminating the stripped wires at the receptacle itself. Therefore, in order to complete the proper, flush-mounted wall installation of any electrical receptacle, all of the many wires and connectors associated with connecting the particular receptacle to the electrical system must first be connected electrically to the receptacle and then the receptacle with the attached wires is inserted back into the box. If the power is not shut off while the electrical receptacle is being connected to the electrical system, the installer may receive an electrical shock during the installation, since the junction box contains a plurality of open wires and wire connections that are easily accessible and therefore readily mis-connected by the novice installer, such as the homeowner attempting to install a simple light fixture or ceiling fan without the aid of a skilled electrician. Moreover, because the wires are usually crammed into the junction box very tightly, the wires are capable of short-circuiting and causing dangerous electrical fires.
Standard electrical practices create additional limitations associated with the fact that current electrical systems only permit switch control of fixtures and/or outlets when the particular fixtures and/or outlets are directly wired to the same junction box as the switch. In an effort to circumvent this disadvantage, multiple gang junction boxes have been developed for terminating several switches in a single location and thereby permitting comparatively convenient control of multiple fixtures or groups of fixtures. Further, since a building""s electrical circuits cannot be tested fully until after the walls of a building are erected, electrical connectivity errors or problems related to proper switch control of particular outlets and fixtures are frequent, especially in the case of multi-way switches, where more than one switch controls a single fixture or group of fixtures. These errors are costly and time-consuming to correct, as they require that the relevant portion of the interior wall surface be removed and reconstructed after the electrical error has been found and repaired. Moreover, current electrical practices provide no standard system or method to permit monitoring, controlling, reconfiguring, or otherwise changing the functionality of a particular receptacle without either directly modifying the particular receptacle or otherwise acting upon a control (i.e., a switch or other control device implemented as a receptacle) that is dedicated to controlling or monitoring the particular receptacle(s) and that is directly wired thereto. There is no known method to monitor, control, or change the functionality of either a single electrical receptacle or a plurality of electrical receptacles connected to the electrical system of a building structure wherein the location and/or functionality of each monitored, controlled, monitoring, or controlling receptacle may be freely changed.
It therefore would be advantageous to have an electrical service port comprising an electrical junction box and an electrical receptacle that permits convenient and simplified installation and removal of electrical receptacles within the box. It also would be advantageous to have an electrical junction box wherein electrical wires from a building""s electrical system terminate at a set of terminal strips and lugs in a secure area of the box rather than directly on an electrical receptacle connected to the junction box. It further would be advantageous to have a junction box that provides a pair of plug-and-play terminals into which electrical receptacles are readily and conveniently plugged for connection to a building""s electrical system.
It would further be advantageous to have a means of communicating between the electrical receptacles within the electrical system, which means would not be affected by the opening or closing of a switch. It also would be beneficial to have an electrical system that provides the means to monitor, control or reconfigure individual electrical receptacles, within an electrical service port, connected to the system without regard to the location of the receptacles within the system. It also would be advantageous to have a wiring system that would enable changes to the location of a particular receptacle without affecting the receptacle""s function or its ability to monitor, be monitored, control, or be controlled. It also would be advantageous to be able to change the function of a particular receptacle from another point in the system without physically operating directly upon or replacing the particular receptacle.
It also would be advantageous to have a junction box that provides a low voltage connector block adapted to provide for circuitry for an electrical communication path for controlling and or monitoring receptacle functionality. It also would be advantageous to have a electrical circuitry system wherein electrical receptacles having a built-in, internal logic system can be connected in any location within the system, and subsequently be moved, or reprogrammed, to any other location within the system, without affecting their ability to be controlled by any suitably configured switch or switch control in the building. It also would be advantageous to have a circuit system and wiring method that permits a single gang electrical junction box to accommodate a switch that is capable of controlling multiple electrical receptacles or groups of such receptacles. It further would be advantageous to have a circuit system that provides improved electrical junction boxes having a single connection or contact that permits communication, and thereby, control, monitoring, and/or reconfiguring of electrical receptacles connected to the system from any point within the system.
An electrical wiring system and method now have been discovered that overcome the above-described deficiencies of the prior art. According to the invention, a wiring system for providing electrical service to a structure allows all electrical service ports, comprising a junction box in electrical communication with a receptacle, regardless of their ultimate functionality, to be wired in series. The functionality of the receptacle, which electrically communicates with the junction box, is determined solely by a processor, which is preconfigured (i.e., preset or preprogrammed) to determine the functionality of that specific electric receptacle. Thus any receptacle, in electrical communication with any junction box in the wiring system, where the junction boxes are wired in series, could be a switch, a switched outlet, a switched light or the like without the necessity of wiring a particular junction box in a manner to provide that receptacle""s functionality.
The present invention thus provides a building electrification system wherein the an electrical receptacle electrically communicates with an electrical junction, box wired in series to an electrified buss, provides an electrical service port, through which access to electrical service is provided such as by plugging in an appliance or another electrical device, or switching fixtures or appliances. In accordance with the instant invention an electrical service port comprises an electrical junction box, wired in series to an electrified buss, which determines the location of the port; and, an electrical receptacle, in electrical communication with the junction box, which provides the functionality of the electrical service port. All junction boxes are wired in a like fashion in series and the functionality of the electrical service port is determined by a programable receptacle, making all ports in the electrification system interchangeable, regardless of the functionality desired. Thus from a common buss the series wiring of the electrical junction boxes provides the electrical communication path between and among the electrical service ports.
Thus, electrical receptacles need not be fixedly located in relation to their corresponding switches or switch controls and the functionality of any receptacle can be changed at will. The circuitry of the present invention allows any junction box regardless of location in the system to contain a receptacle which can function as any component of a circuit. Thus switches can be changed from single to three way by merely changing the functionality of the receptacle in electrical communication with a junction box.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention the processor within the receptacle is preconfigured (i.e., pre-set or programmed prior to installation) requiring exchange of the entire receptacle within the junction box to change functionality of the electrical service port at the desired location. According to another aspect, the processors within the receptacle can be re-configured remotely, after installation, either by use of the house or building electrification circuitry or preferably by use of a low voltage independent controlling connections.
Thus, electrical receptacles, having a functionality, can be connected in any junction box location within the electrification system, and subsequently moved or re-configured, in place or to any location within the system. In accordance with the invention a single gang electrical junction box can have multiple functionality, such as the ability to control multiple electrical receptacles or groups of such receptacles from a single station.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment the system is able of multi-configurable functionality by use of a low voltage twisted pair actuating and/monitoring circuit that permits central control and monitoring of all such electrical service ports within the system. By providing each electrical junction box with a separate low voltage circuit connection that interfaces with an electrical receptacles connected to the junction box, the circuitry system of the present invention permits the flow of information between electrical service ports, and accordingly, the control and monitoring of that electrical receptacle within the electrical service ports. By eliminating the need of switches to open or close portions of the system in order to turn off the switched receptacle, the present invention enables continuity of the communication path between the receptacles of the system, thereby facilitating continuous control and monitoring of all receptacles connected to the system, regardless of their location.
Accordingly, individual receptacles may be relocated or reprogrammed within the system without loss of either functionality, monitorability, or controllability. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the system enables use of re-configurable processors, having internal logic systems, that can control any and/or all electrical receptacles to change the functionality of any electrical service port in the system.
In accordance with the broad aspect of the invention, the electrical system of the instant invention comprises a plurality of electrical service ports having a plurality of electrical junction boxes wired in series to a buss, and at least one electrical receptacle in electrical communication with at least one of the electrical junction boxes. The electrical receptacle comprises a processor that is configured to provide the desired functionality to the receptacle, irrespective of its location in the system. Thus, the electrical receptacle of the instant invention comprises a processor that allows the electrical functionality of the receptacle to be determined irrespective of the location or wiring of the junction box with which it electrically communicates. In one aspect the processor is configurable, preferably remotely, and can provide information to and/ or receive information from other receptacles connected to the system. The processor can also enable the receptacle to be re-configured, monitored, or controlled by a suitable receptacle located elsewhere on the system. Alternatively, the receptacle can be configured to re-configure, control, and/ or monitor other receptacles on the system, and may perform combinations of these classes of functions.
In accordance with the present invention, the instant electrical wiring system can also employ an electrical junction box that permits electrical wires from a building""s electrical system to terminate at a set of terminal strips and lugs in a secure area of the junction box rather than directly on an electrical receptacle that is mounted on and connected to the junction box. The improved electrical junction box provides a set of plug-and-play electrical terminals into which electrical receptacles plug directly without any need for relatively permanent wiring. Accordingly, electrical receptacles may be plugged directly into improved electrical junction boxes to form electrical service ports, and such receptacles easily may be relocated to form electrical service ports in any other location within the system.
In a preferred embodiment, the electrical junction box encloses a set of at least three conductive terminal strips, including at least one substantially electrically positive terminal strip, at least one substantially electrically negative terminal strip, and at least one substantially electrically neutral terminal strip. In this preferred aspect, the junction box also has a corresponding set of at least three female connecting lugs substantially aligned with and extending outwardly from the corresponding set of conductive terminal strips and adapted to removably matingly engage a corresponding set of at least three male connecting lugs on an electrical receptacle means.
Preferably, a security plate having apertures substantially corresponding to the female connecting lugs fits over the female connecting lugs for removable attachment within the interior of the housing means to provide a secure, substantially enclosed environment within the rear portion of the junction box. Thus all open electrical contacts within the junction box are separated from the remaining portion of the electrical junction box.
In accordance with another preferred aspect of the electrical junction box, a low voltage cable enters through an end panel of the housing means and terminates into a low voltage connector block, which is removably or fixedly attached to the housing means. A non-conductive low voltage barrier separates the low voltage connector block from the remainder of the junction box, thereby separating all standard voltage cables connected to the conductive terminal strips from the low voltage cables connected to the low voltage connector block. The low voltage connector block is adapted to terminate a low voltage cable and receive a control/monitor pigtail from an electrical receptacle mounted on and electrically connected to said electrical junction box, thereby providing a circuit for an electronic communication path. When a control or monitor able electrical receptacle, having a control/monitor pigtail is removably inserted into the junction box, the control/monitor pigtail removably interfaces with the low voltage connector block and completes the circuit. In a preferred embodiment, the low voltage connector block is enclosed behind the above-described security plate and is therefore contained within the rear portion of the junction box. In this preferred embodiment, the security plate further comprises at least one aperture that substantially corresponds to at least one aperture on the low voltage connector block that is adapted to receive the control/monitor pigtail. Thus, when the security plate encloses the low voltage connector block in a rear portion of the junction box, the control/monitor pigtail can removably and matingly engage the low voltage connector block through the security plate.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, are given for purposes of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications within the scope of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.